


Dumb Questions

by Dathen



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-03
Updated: 2018-03-03
Packaged: 2019-03-26 09:37:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,180
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13855089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dathen/pseuds/Dathen
Summary: Beau is pretty sure she's the smartest in the room, but dealing with people's...feelingsandissuesare just not her thing.  Since when has that stopped her?Aka "YouTried.jpg" pep talks and bonding with Beau and Nott.  Spoilers through episode 7.





	Dumb Questions

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was 99% written by the time the following episode came out, so it doesn't fully line up with the start of that episode.

At least the gnolls hadn’t ransacked Alfield’s supply of ale.

There wasn't any kind of celebration, which was too bad. When they rolled into town with their handful of survivors and the manticore’s head drooling on the cart floor, Beau had been pretty geared up for one. Guess you couldn’t do much celebrating when the silver lining for these people was that their loved ones couldn’t suffer anymore. Even the Watchmaster’s delighted disbelief turned grim again too quickly--maybe they should have left out the part about the monster eating one of their missing guards.

Beau’s skin crawled, and she took another gulp of ale.

The mug in her hand was her own silver living (aside from the gold weighing down her pockets). The tavern was sadly free of pretty barmaids, but the old man behind the bar refilled her mug each time she nudged it forward without taking the silver on the counter. Good thing, because she’d lost count already, and wasn’t in any mood to slow down.

Next to her, Nott hadn’t touched her drink. Weird. She just sat there perched on her stool, face hidden away in her hood and mask, completely still except for one claw tracing the rough grain of the wooden counter, back and forth, back and forth.

Oh.

Beau’s head swam a little as she glanced over her shoulder for a glimpse of Fjord. He was probably good at this kind of thing, right? Or Jester may be even better, who seemed to have some sort of magic way to cheer people up. Even Molly was apparently better at this kind of thing than her, which didn’t irritate her as much as it should. And Caleb...well, _that_. He vanished upstairs as soon as they got back, stumbling up the worn steps with Molly’s hand on his shoulder.

Nott’s claw was now drumming an anxious staccato on her tin cup. _Rat-tat-tat, rat-tat-tat._

Beua pasted on a grin. “Drinks are a bit shitty here, eh?” she said, ignoring the bartender’s frown to nudge Nott with an elbow.

“Oh? Eh...hm…” mumbled Nott without looking up.

Okay, attempt number two. “So what do you think we should call ourselves? Like our group. It should be something _badass_.”

The wide yellow eyes blinked a few times before peering up at her from the shadow of the cowl. “Oh, um, I hadn’t thought about that yet,” she said before ducking her head again. _Rat-tat-tat, rat-tat-tat_. “I wasn’t sure how long we’d stick together. I don’t know how long Caleb…”

Beau grimaced and hid her face in another long swig of ale. She was only here herself because she had nothing better to do (right?), but thinking of it that way now felt...weird. She didn’t want to examine the odd feeling coiling in her stomach. “He’s gonna be fine,” she said, elbowing Nott again. The stool wobbled.

“I know,” Nott said easily, and Beau blinked. “He’s very tough. He’ll be back to normal tomorrow. This isn’t the first time he’s gone quiet like this.”

 _Too bad it’s not one of the others going quiet!_ sprang to the tip of her tongue, and died there. Molly wasn’t fun to pick on when he wasn’t there, anyway. “He’s not the only one that’s tough, eh? Can't believe you went after the manticore like that! Totally badass.” There were words out there other than "badass," but none were coming to her ale-sodden mind right now.

“Oh, um, that’s alright, it wasn’t...well…”

“Just take the compliment.”

“Okay…” The way Nott ducked her head was almost sheepish, and Beau thought she spied a grin peeking over the edge of the mask. “There’s, um, a question I wanted to ask you.”

Beau shoved her mug back across the counter again, smirking at the bartender as she tapped a finger on its side. “What’s that?”

“Why did you save me? Not that I'm ungrateful!”

Beau tried not to snort ale up her nose. “What?”

“From the manticore! When it was gonna eat me! I mean, you could have died!”

Beau let out a laugh. “Died? Me? I could outrun a shit like that any day!” It wasn’t the time to brag or anything, but she _was_ the only one of their group who hadn’t been knocked senseless in the past week. “Really, though, that question is just fucking dumb, Nott.”

The round yellow eyes just stared back at her a long moment, slitted pupils wide in the low light. “I’m just curious, is all. I mean, it’s not like you’re Caleb.”

“You think Caleb is the only one here who cares about you?” There was that weird feeling curling in her stomach again. It was the last thing she needed with how many drinks she’d had.

“Don’t get me wrong! I’m grateful none of you seem to...have an issue with me, it’s really not what I was expecting at all, and you’ve put up with me for quite some time now--”

“We don’t just put up with you,” Beau interrupted. She wanted to add more, eloquently, something about how sure she was that Nott made Jester’s world go round, and Fjord turned into an even bigger softie than usual around her, and Molly _slightly_ less of an obnoxious assshole--and when Beau had seen Nott backed to the wall by the manticore, half-dead and dripping with her own blood, she would have punched through a wall to get to her. But her tongue felt thick and words weren’t working like they should. “You’re part of Team Badass now, and that makes us buddies.” Team Badass was a pretty good name. She should bring it up with Fjord tomorrow. Beau held up her hand for a fist bump.

“Team Badass, huh?” Nott said warily, but after a moment of eyeing the fist bumped her bony knuckles against Beau’s.

 _Nailed it._ “Yup!” Beau grinned, leaning down. “And you’re pretty much the hero of the day, Nott the Brave. Well, the both of us are. Pretty sure the rest would be monster lunch if it wasn’t for you. If Fjord doesn’t thank you for your little stunt later, let me know and I’ll kick his ass.”

The jagged grin returned, very slowly, and Beau realized she wasn’t used to seeing it directed at her. “It was good, right? Those people got away...I saw them in the cart as we left! I didn’t even realized it helped Fjord too.” Her voice grew louder as she spoke, ears twitching in excitement.

“Yeah…it was good,” said Beau. It shocked her a little at the time, honestly, but she hadn't even put two and two together that it had been meant to save the villagers. Strangers who probably would have screamed at the sight of Nott, just like that kid they found. _Caleb’s gonna be really proud when he’s up_ came to mind, but she caught herself. “Everyone’s real proud, trust me.”

And if she had to kick a few asses tomorrow as a friendly reminder for them to tell her so, well, more fun for her.

**Author's Note:**

> I love Beau more with each new episode, especially after learning about Marisha's approach to the character and how Beau sees herself. Watching her clumsily trying to look out for fellow group members despite her Aloof Amoral Asshole persona is giving me life. Nott is a gift as always, and I wanted to explore the weakening barrier between Nott&Caleb and the rest of the group. And am determined to flood the fandom with as much gen fic as my slow writing skills can muster.
> 
> I've seen people criticize the game mechanics of Beau charging in to save Nott but THAT CHARACTER MATERIAL, MY FRIENDS


End file.
